Just a Moment
by hot mess express
Summary: A collection of Jared and Kim one shots, relating to the story line of my completed J/K fic 'How The Story Went'
1. Proposal

So I have decided that I really don't have any ideas for another full Jared and Kim story at the moment, but I do love them and I have plenty of plot bunnies floating in my head for them, so I'll be working on a collection of short stories for the next little while. Keep an eye out for new additions! And if you haven't read my full length J/K fic "How The Story Went" I suggest you head over to that first!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Twilight series.

* * *

The first time he asked, I laughed.

_Laughed._

In the single most unromantic gesture in the _history _of unromantic gestures, I could not keep a straight face beyond the moment where his question hung in the air. There was dead silence. Followed quickly by my giggles.

His face fell almost instantly and he shot up from where he had been crouched on the ground in the school parking lot. His graduation robes were slightly damp and the ends from where they had dragged the ground as he was kneeling. June in Washington was, as always, rainy. He crossed his large arms over his chest and frowned down at me as I covered my mouth with my hand. The unamused look on his face only served to bring another fit of giggles.

"Oh my God...you _are _serious?" I gasped through my laughter.

"Yes, I'm serious!" His offense to my reaction became, if possible, even more apparent as he unfolded his arms to jam his fists into the pockets of his dress slacks. It was one of the few times I had ever seen him out of jeans or sweatpants. In his slacks and white shirt, with his tie hanging loosely from his collar and graduation robes open and fluttering in the evening air, I had to admit he looked unusually handsome.

I sobered some as he stared me down and my mood shifted from uncontrollable hilarity to incredulous disbelief.

"Jared, what exactly did you think I was going to say?" I asked him, gesturing around us, "We've barely been out of high school ten minutes."

"I thought you were going to say yes, otherwise I would have saved myself the trouble by not asking." he responded irritably. I ran my fingers through my hair, winding the ends around my finger tips and resting my hand against my shoulder. My free hand shifted to wrap across my body and clutch at my ribcage, my arms pseudo crossed in a defensive position.

"What's the rush, Jared?" I demanded, "It's not exactly normal for us to get engaged right after highschool an-"

"Since when are we normal?" He snorted and I rolled my eyes in response.

"_Exactly_ my point." I said, "Can we please be normal _for once_?"

"Why would I want that?" he replied fiercely, "If we were normal, I'd still have my head so far up my ass that I'd never see what was right in front of me."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." I said flatly, feeling annoyed, "What I mean is that the only people who get married fresh out of high school are the girls who got themselves knocked up. And by some miracle, we've managed to avoid that so far."

"Right, you're not pregnant, there's no scandal." he reasoned, "So it's a non-issue."

"But what's the rush?" I insisted, my arms dropping now. I reached forward to tug his hands from his pocket. Despite his apparent frustration, he yielded and I wound my fingers into his. "What's the difference between right now and a year from now? Two years, even?"

"The difference is two years of calling you my wife." he said in a low voice. My hands in his brought him closer to me and he lowered his head out of habit to speak to me more directly. His eyes bore into mine and I could not help but be caught by them. "Maybe it's stupid, but it's the closest thing that the rest of the world has to what we are. It's the closest thing the rest of the world has to forever."

I hesitated now, in my resolve to reject his proposal.

"I just want it, Kim." he said, determination in his voice, "I want you. In every possible way that I can have you."

I sighed. _God _he was good with words. Better than I had ever been, I was sure. He had a gift for presenting things in a way that was undeniable. A gift for winning me over. I released his hand and dug into his left pocket with he had let the ring drop following my initial reaction. I inspected it carefully, studying the simply cut diamond and the intricate design of the setting. It was hardly gaudy, more simple and reserved.

"Where did you get this ring?" I asked him after a long moment of staring at it. He blinked in surprise at my question, but collected himself quickly.

"It was my mom's. She nearly cried when I asked her if I could have it for you."

"She nearly cried?"

"Yeah. Said she was glad I wasn't going to let you slip away from me." He grinned slightly at the irony of that statement. I couldn't help a slight giggle.

"If only she knew." I murmured and he nodded.

"If only."

I stared at the ring for another minute before I finally looked up to meet his expectant gaze.

"Alright."

He face split into a wide grin and he leaned closer, his nose brushing mine.

"Really?" he asked, in a whisper that was thickly laced with an almost laughing tone of happiness.

"Really." I repeated, just as his lips crashed into mine. His hands found my waist and pulled my body flush to his. My free hand laced around his neck and my fingers played in the short hairs at its base. And when he finally pulled away, my cheeks were slightly pink from the rush of it all, the heat of his skin and intensity of our kisses that I knew I would never become fully adjusted to. I didn't want to.

He smiled down at me, as I slipped the ring onto my finger. I paused as I reached the second knuckle and looked up at him. Confusion bloomed on his face at my hesitation.

"I only have one condition." I told him, my hands still poised to finish slipping the ring entirely on my finger.

"What's that?"

"You have to tell Marcus."

And Jared grinned, reached up and pushed the ring entirely onto my finger.

"Deal."


	2. Sleep Drabble

This is sort of drabbley...I didn't know where it was going when I started it, so I'm posting as it. Just some short and sweet cuteness, from Jared's perspective for a change.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Twilight series.

* * *

He loves to watch her sleep.

He doesn't need eight hours, he's more accustomed to running on four or three, so he doesn't find sleep as easily as she does. It hardly matters. As Kim drifts away, he regards her carefully, taking note of the way her breath evens out and the way she murmurs to herself as she becomes less and less coherent. And finally, submerged in a dreamland, she rolls towards him and buries her face into her shoulder, her arm draping over her torso. She grasps at his bare skin, as if to hold him securely, and he smiles. Even in her sleep, even beyond a state of awareness, she holds onto him. He's hers.

It amazes him, truly it does, how she can make him both incredibly, supernaturally strong and at the same time unfathomably weak. He is helpless, when it comes to her and in the darkest hours of the night, he prays to whatever god he believes in, whatever god with _listen, _that no one figures that out.


	3. Soul Mates

A story focusing on Jackie, Kim's best friend, and Marcus, Kim's older brother. If you're not familiar, go read my fic 'How the Story Went' which features both. When I was writing HtSW, I had in my head that Jax and Marcus had a history of flirtation and hookups, so I thought I'd play on that some. Enjoy!

Note: Despite the fact that all of these fics take place in the same general universe, I have in my head that there are multiple versions to my character's stories. So even though Kim and Jared were engaged in an earlier one shot, they ARE NOT in this story. In fact, I'll probably write another proposal scenario at some point, just for fun.

**Disclaimer:** Jackie and Marcus are mine, everything else is not

* * *

She wasn't really the sort to get jealous, but in this situation, she felt in was almost justified. After all, there really wasn't any way someone could see Jared and Kim together without wishing for what they had. _Hell_, Jackie thought to herself as she leaned against the kitchen counter at the Connweller's house, _I'd settle for a relationship half that good._

It felt like they had been together forever, instead of since the beginning of the year. Now it was July, a few weeks after graduation, and even though her best friends' relationship was technically still new it didn't feel that way to Jackie. In fact, she could hardly remember what it had been like before it was Jared and Kim and she could not for the life of her remember why she had though Ian had been a good fit for her friend. It had always been Jared, Jax decided, and it always would be. That was the thing that had her so envious.

From her spot in the kitchen, red solo cup of beer in one hand, she could see Jared and Kim on the couch and a wistful smile passed over her face. Their limbs were tangled together, Jared fingers knotted somewhere in Kim's long, dark hair as she looked at him with a peaceful expression on her face. He was whispering something to her, something that was apparently hilarious, because Kim's face broke into a broad grin and she let out a loud, genuine laugh. He grinned back at her, before stealing a kiss from his girlfriend mid-laugh. And even from the kitchen, Jackie could see the love shining in her friend's eyes. She looked away. She didn't want to be caught staring and she certainly didn't want anyone else to pick up on her envy.

She took another sip from the solo cup, glancing around the room over the rim at the majority of the senior class and a few former La Push High School students who were friends with Kim's brother. She hardly noticed when Marcus sidled up beside her on the counter, cup in hand, invading her personal space without even a second thought to it. She didn't even have to look to know who it was.

"Having fun, Jax?" he asked, his voice not even slurred, indicating that he was a long way off from being truly drunk. She glanced at him and gave a slight smile, then nodded.

"Yeah," she said, forcing confidence into her voice, "It's just weird, you know? Graduation."

Marcus laughed and gave her a skeptical look.

"Life outside high school isn't really that different from life inside high school." he assured her, with a shrug, "I wouldn't freak out about it."

He was probably right. Jackie and Kim were planning on attending the community college that Marcus took classes at as opposed to going away. In fact, plenty of students from her graduating class would be joining them. She could probably count on two hands the students who would actually be leaving home for school.

"Feels different though." she sighed, taking another long sip of her beer, her eyes going to where her friend was sitting again. Kim had somehow pushed her oversized boyfriend onto his back on the couch, and was now straddling his hips while holding his beer just out of reach, a playful smile on her face. Jared's smile mimicked hers and while Jackie suspected that he could easily overtake the much smaller, lighter Kim and reclaim his drink, she knew that wasn't part of their game. She realized a moment too late that her eyes had been lingering.

"They're something, aren't they?" Marcus observed, following her gaze and Jackie flinched when she realized he had picked up on her staring. She looked at Marcus to see if he was being sarcastic, but found his face to be uncharacteristically serious. She looked back at the couple again and nodded.

"They are." she agreed, "Soul mates, right?"

Marcus snorted at the term, the sarcasm written on his face now as he nodded to her statement. Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"You don't believe in soul mates?" she asked, though she wasn't exactly surprised. Marcus had never come off as particularly sentimental. He studied her face for a moment, becoming serious once again.

"Do I believe that Kim and boytoy are soul mates?" Marcus asked, glancing back at his sister, "Of course I do. You'd have to blind and stupid not to think that."

He tipped his cup up as he took another sip, swallowing the final gulps of his drink before tossing the empty into the sink to his right.

"But soul mates in general? Like fate intervenes, you meet someone and everything just _clicks_?" he shook his head ruefully at the idea, leaning back on the counter and crossing his arms over his chest, "Seems a little boring, doesn't it?"

Jackie considered this for a moment, recollecting how Kim and Jared's relationship had seemingly just fallen into place without struggle or issue. It was like they had a conversation one day and then three weeks later, they were madly in love and together forever. She hardly noticed Marcus leaning a little closer to her.

"I'd rather have to fight for it." he said in a low voice, "Makes it worthwhile."

She regarded him carefully, smiling in spite of herself, before she finally nodded.

"Yeah." she agreed, "I guess it does."


End file.
